


Missing

by Tukaru



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Because I like happy endings, F/F, Found Family, I'm Bad At Tagging, Lumity isn't a focus, and an eventual happy ending, because inspiration comes when it comes, but we've got some angst, im a sucker for their cuteness so no promises, no beta we die like men, written in no particular order
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26403241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tukaru/pseuds/Tukaru
Summary: She had assumed that Luz had just lost her phone or forgotten to charge it or somehow broken it doing something silly. It wouldn’t have been all that out of character for her. But it had been a week with no response from her little girl.A look at what would happen if Luz's quest to find a portal took a whole lot longer, told in little snippets.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & King & Luz Noceda
Comments: 104
Kudos: 444





	1. Failed to Send

-Message failed to send-  
-Message failed to send-  
-Message failed to send-  
-Message failed to send-  
-Message failed to send-  
-Message failed to send-

-Call failed-  
-Call failed-  
-Call failed-

Worry gnawed at Camilia’s insides as she sat at her and Luz’s favorite lunch place, sandwich untouched. She had assumed that Luz had just lost her phone or forgotten to charge it or somehow broken it doing something silly. It wouldn’t have been all that out of character for her. But it had been a week with no response from her little girl.

Even the letters had stopped and the more she read them the more unsettled they made her feel. Luz had spelled her name wrong in quite a few of them and the wording felt stilted and unnatural.

The camp would have called her if something happened, right? They wouldn’t let Luz get hurt and not tell her about it. They wouldn’t hurt her… would they?  
She took a deep breath to calm herself and quickly searched for Camp Reality Check’s phone number.

The phone rang once, twice, thrice and on the fourth ring, “Welcome to Camp Reality Check where children learn to think inside the box,” said a rather tired voice, “My name is Alex, how may I help you?”

“Yes, hello, I want to talk to my daughter, Luz. Luz Noceda? She hasn’t responded to my calls or t-”

“Are you Camilia Noceda?” the person’s voice went from tired to concerned, “We have been trying to contact you for the last month.”

“What?”

“Luz Noceda never arrived at Camp Reality Check,” a pit formed in Camilia’s stomach, “We’ve been calling the number listed in our system but no one picked up. We assumed you backed out.”

Camilia ran a nervous hand across her face, “But she’s... we’ve been texting back and forth for the last month and a half. She’s been talking about how she has been making friends. She’s sent me letters.”

“We don’t have a way for the kids to send letters,” the person on the other line paused for an uncomfortably long time, “Is there…. anyone she could have been staying with?”

“No, she… was never good at making friends and our extended family done live anywhere near here,” she ran through other potential scenarios in her head. She knew Luz had no interest in meeting her father (who lived who knows where) and she wouldn’t have anywhere else she could go.

“I’m sorry mam, I suggest contacting the proper authorities and-” Camilia hung up and dialed another number as panic flew through her veins.

She barely choked out, “My daughter is missing.”

\------------------------------------

One month turned into two, two months turned into three, four, five, six, a year, two years, three and there had been no sign of Luz. No sign of her baby.

She had been numb at first, then angry at the world, then herself, then regretful and now she had fallen into a sad pattern. Wake up, work, come home, sleep, repeat. Hold a quiet birthday for her, just a few balloons, the newest Azura book, and a small cake. She never ate the cake.

Sometimes she would read her daughter’s texts and other times she would read her letters and when she was feeling especially strong, she would go into Luz’s room.

The detectives had gone through the small room many times but only found her daughter’s vivid inner world. Posters of various books, TV shows, and a bi pride flag hung on her walls. A computer full of half-finished fanfics and anime clips, art supplies, and a stack of well-loved books sat on her desk. Notebooks filled with doodles that had gotten more and more impressive as time went on were tucked beside messily folded clothes.

Camilia sat on Luz’s bed running a tired hand across a picture of Luz as a child. All smiles and excitement as she and Luz stood side by side in front of the first rollercoaster she had braved or, “conquered” as she had put it. She had always been such a brave little thing and Camilia had held out hope that her Luz was brave enough to make it back to her.

Tears dropped onto the glass covering the photo.

The detective had told her that the chance of Luz coming home safe and sound was extremely slim. He had told her that the investigation was still ongoing but he called off the manhunts. The only lead had been one neighbor who had claimed to have seen her running into the forest that fateful day but any potential trail had been covered by a month of rain and animal activity. The trail had gone too cold for too long to find any evidence as to where she had gone.

She set the photo down face-first onto Luz’s soft blanket and stood. The floor creaked beneath her feet as she walked out of Luz’s room to get ready for bed. It had been a long day.

She had been given a job opportunity a few hours away. The pay was better and it would give her some distance from this house’s painful memories but, that foolishly hopeful part of her still wanted to believe that one day, Luz would come back. And if Camilia wasn’t still here Luz would never find her.

Camilia scrolled through potential apartments when she realized that she would only need one bedroom now. She put her phone down on her bedside table and laid her head in her hands. 


	2. Sad in the Wrong Way

Luz sat on the couch, knees tucked against her chest and hood pulled over her head as King snoozed beside her. She could hear Eda banging around in the kitchen, muttering in frustration as she attempted to make breakfast without using magic.

Luz had been excited for today. She had abomination class with Amity and she wanted to show her the glyph she had used to bring a small clump of dirt to life. Sure, it wasn’t much larger than her hand but she, a human, had made an abomination.

Until she looked at the date.

“I would be going home today,” she said to no one in particular. 

King, to his credit, lifted his head and looked up at her with sleepy eyes, “Whad ya mean?”

“I would be going back to the human realm today,” she wanted to show her mom everything. All her friends and the weird little family she had made for herself. Luz knew that as soon as she got over the shock of her being in the demon realm for the past three months, she would love them too.

She wanted her mom to see just how much she had learned and how much she had grown. But that wasn’t going to happen. Not in the near future at least. No portal, no going home.

“I thought you were oh… ” King trailed off before he stood and wrapped his little arms around her as best as he could and hugged the small demon. She sniffed under restrained tears.

Eda’s banging stopped and she peaked her head into the main room, “Hey, breakfast is done. You freeloaders better get over her before Lilith and I eat all the human muffins.” She smirked at her apprentice but Luz didn’t even lift her head.

Eda’s smile dropped and she made her way to Luz’s side, “Hey kid, um, you doing ok?”

“I would be going home today,” Her too quiet voice broke, “I was supposed to be sad because I would have to go to normal, boring human school. I was supposed to hug you all tight and say ‘I love you’ and ‘I’ll see you soon’,” tears rolled down her cheeks, hot and fast, “I was supposed to convince my mom to let me stay because of how much I love it here. I was supposed to,” she hiccupped, “I was going to get to hug my Mami today.” She pulled her hood farther over her head and let the sobs shake her.

King looked up at Eda as he hugged their human tighter. Eda took the hint and sat beside Luz before pulling her in the best hug the magicless witch could give. Luz melted into the hug and her tears seeped into Eda’s sleep shirt.

They stayed that way until Luz’s shaking stopped, Eda only having to glare at Lilith and mouth ‘ _Go away_ ’ once before her sister (who had arguably caused this whole mess) went back to the kitchen and left them alone.

“I’m so sorry, kid. I should have done something different.”

Luz pulled back with a look of horror on her tear-stained face, “No! No, I wanted to be here. I love learning magic and being with you guys! I just-”

“I know,” Eda smiled softly and put her hand on Luz's hooded head, she didn’t care if Lilith or King teased her about going soft. This was about Luz, “And I’m so glad I got to meet you but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m sorry all this happened.”

“I’m sorry too,” King muttered, “Even if I do like you being here.”

Luz almost laughed and she pulled their little family into another group hug, “I love you both.”

“Love you too kiddo.”

“Love you, Luz!”

She pulled away from the hug again with thoughtful concern on her face, “Do I still have to go to school?”

Eda snorted, “In what world do I say no to skipping school?” This time Luz did laugh and Eda counted it as a victory, “You can even use us as an excuse if Bumpykins asks. You can say ‘Lilith set the kitchen on fire and I had to help put it out’.”

They all shared a soft laugh before King piped up, “Hey, is something burning?” 

Luz sniffed the air and she could, indeed, smell smoke. The three looked up to see smoke pooling on the kitchen ceiling just as Lilith scrambled out with smoldering oven mitts and soot on her panicked face, “The muffins were strangely flammable.”

“Well, kid, it looks like you don’t even have to lie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet.


	3. Happy Birthday Luz!

"Happy birthday to you!" Eda, King, Willow, Gus, and Amity finished their off-key song and Luz beamed at her friends. They all wore silly party hats including Lilith. Who sat in the corner with a neutral expression and a dented party hat perched on her now curly hair.

Luz had let it slip that her 15th birthday was on the horizon and her friends jumped on the opportunity to celebrate. They had even tried to make her birthday "human style". With Gus' limited knowledge combined with Eda's dwindling supply of human trash; they actually did a pretty good job.

The cake, courtesy of King, was bright, cheery, and chocolatey with "Happy Birthday Luz" written in unsteady, white icing. The balloons were made of a strange type of abomination magic that Amity had whipped up with practiced ease. And the decorations were supplied by Eda, with Willow and Gus filling in the gaps.

Luz closed her eyes, made her silent birthday wish, and blew out her candles... or, the Boiling Isles equivalent to birthday candles. All 15 made of questionable wax and even more questionable wicks.

King clambered onto Luz's lap, "Do we get to eat the cake now?"

Eda pulled out a brutal looking dagger and mockingly glared at the little demon, "King, wait till we've finished cutting the cake."

"The King of Demons demands offerings!"

"Didn't you eat 90% of the icing?" Amity piped up from her seat between Willow and Gus.

"I was hungry..."

Gus put on an air of professionalism, "And human tradition states that the birthday person receives the first slice of cake."

Luz chuckled as Eda divied up the cake with her jagged dagger and placed the slice on a multicolored paper plate. As soon as Luz received the first slice, everyone eagerly shoveled their portion of the baked good into their mouths. Including Lilith, although she still looked like she didn't want to be there. But that was ok. They had cake!

Food on the Boiling Isles never tasted like the stuff back home. Everything was always a little too bitter, a little too sweet or weirdly salty but she had lived there for long enough that the 'off' flavors rarely bothered her.

The cake was gone at a surprising rate (mostly eaten by King as shown by his sleepy eyes and round belly) and everyone looked content with their feast of sweets.

"Alright Dweebis, what's next on the human birthday list?" Eda said as she leaned against the couch.

Gus pulled out a comically large list and ran his finger down the many many items, "I believe it's... time for presents!"

"You guys didn't have to get me anything," Luz chuckled, "You already gave me the best birthday party I've ever had."

It was true. She never really had friends back in the human realm so her birthdays ended up being just her and Mami. Luz's heart clenched at the thought but she pushed it down. She would think about the hard things when she was alone. For now, her friends and strange family gathered presents from the corner. She would enjoy that first.

"Luz! Luz! Open mine first!" King shouted as he ran over with a messily wrapped box.

"Of course my King," she gave a bow from her place on the floor as King laid the box before her. Luz tore open his present and was greeted with a cat plushy with soft fur and big blue eyes.

King suddenly looked unsure, "I thought since you're staying with us for a while, you could join my army. You could have your own battalion and-"

Luz swept up the demon in a big hug which he eagerly returned. Although he had started out not enjoying her displays of affection, he had come to embrace it. Literally.

"Hugs!" the little demon wrapped his arms around her.

"I love him, thank you, King."

"Oh! My turn," Gus shouted as he scrambled to put down his present. His wrapping job was significantly better but Luz wasted no time in tearing it open. Inside the box, there was a hoodie that she excitedly pulled out. The black fabric was human-made and in looping white letters the word "Witch" was spelled across the back.

"It's a human shirt and it says 'Witch" so I thought you'd like it." Gus gave her a huge smile and she brought him into another hug. She quickly pulled off her cat hoodie and threw on her new one. It was a little big but she would grow into it.

"Thanks, Gus, it's perfect."

Willow came forward with her gift, it was already unwrapped and Luz could see why. It was a vibrantly purple succulent with each little leaf a slightly different hue.

"This is a Singing Succulent," Willow handed the little pot to Luz, "They're really easy to take care of and," Luz poked one of the leaves and a cheery song began to play, "They make music."

"Willow! This is so cool!" The little plant danced to its own tune and Luz smiled at one of her best friends. She had gotten her the perfect plant. A magic musical plant that she wouldn't kill within the first 3 days of owning it. 

Luz gently set the succulent on the table and wrapped Willow in another tight hug, "Thank you."

Next, Amity walked forward with a present in each small hand. Her face was pink and she looked extremely nervous, "I, uh, got you two because I like y-  _ two _ !" I like getting you two. Gifts, I mean. Two gifts," Luz looked at her stuttering friend in confusion, " _ I’ve been talking for too long. _ Um, just here." Amity quickly set the gifts down and folded her arms across her chest, face bright red.

Luz smiled, "I like two gifts too." Amity relaxed ever so slightly but Luz missed the smug looks Willow and Eda gave the green-haired witch.

These two were by far the best wrapped and Luz picked up one. She tore open the wrapping paper and opened the box to find a thick sketchbook and a set of three nice pens.

"I noticed you were running low on glyph paper and your pen was almost out of ink so I got you more."

Luz stood up and pulled Amity into a hug, "I keep meaning to go get more but I'll keep forgetting so thank you!" She released Amity and turned back to the other gift. She pulled it open with equal enthusiasm and found a pretty purple gem on a silver necklace, not unlike Amity's necklace. Luz ran a finger along the smooth surface, "It's so pretty and it almost matches yours."

"Yeah, Ed and Em helped me enchant it."

" _ Enchanted _ pretty necklace!"

Amity giggled, "It will let you summon a scroll without needing to draw a spell circle. So you can call me- us. Call us. So we can all talk. Um."

Luz wrapped Amity in another tight hug which Amity slowly returned, "I'll help you set it up later," she squeaked out.

"Thanks, Amity, you're amazing."

"Alright kid, you can flirt later,"  _ I’m sorry what _ , "It's time for my gift unless," Eda turned towards Lilith, "Lilith has a present to give."

The witch stiffened, "I was unaware that gifts were a part of your human 'Birthdays'."

Eda scoffed, "Excuses, excuses." Luz held back a snort, "Anyway it's time for my gift."

Eda slammed down her present which was significantly bigger than her friend's presents but was only marginally neater than King's wrapping. Luz pulled the box towards her and ripped at the paper.

Inside the present, there was a set of tools. They looked to be on the older side but they glimmered with faint tan magic. Luz picked up what looked like a strange knife before Eda spoke, "You're gonna need these when it's time to make your own staff."

Luz looked up at her mentor who winked one mismatched eye. Luz sprung up to give her mentor a crushing hug, "Thank you, Eda."

"You're welcome kiddo but I think you're crushing my ribs," Eda's voice was strained and Luz quickly dropped the hug.

Luz turned towards her best friends and family, "Thank you guys for giving me the best birthday ever."

And then it was Luz's turn to get crushed by hugs.

\------------------------------------

"Hey Mom," Luz smiled into her camera, "I just had the  _ best _ birthday. All my closest friends were there, King made an awesome cake and everyone gave me really cool gifts."

Luz reached for her pile of neatly stacked gifts.

"Gus gave me a hoodie, see, it says ‘Witch’. It made me really happy because it means my friends see me as a real witch. Even if I do magic differently," Luz folded the hoodie again and reached for her succulent, "And Willow gave me this," Luz pressed one of the leaves and absurdly loud rock music screamed from the unassuming plant. She panicked and hit the same leaf again and the sound stopped, "Uh, yeah. It's called a Singing Succulent. I'm not sure what all the leaves do but I'm gonna try them all when Eda, Lilith, and King aren't asleep."

"And speaking of King, look at what he gave me," she held up the cute cat stuffed animal, "It's to build up my army of darkness but I think I'm going to call him Mittens. Oh, and Amity gave me some cool stuff too."

"She gave me more pens and paper to draw my glyphs but the coolest thing was this," Luz held up the gem around her neck, "It's so I can summon the Boiling Isles version of a phone. She helped me set it up," Luz squeezed the gem three times and a scroll poofed into existence, "See!" She squeezed it twice and it disappeared.

"And Eda gave me some carving tools for when I make my own staff. That means she thinks I'm almost ready!"

Luz looked down at her phone. No wifi, no service, no way to contact her home.

"Mami, I know you're not supposed to tell what your birthday wish is but," she took a breath, "I wish I could find a way to at least talk to you. Just so you could know I was safe." Luz pursed her lips, "Actually, I don't think 'safe' is in the Boiling Isles dictionary. So I wish I could let you know that I'm really happy and I don't feel so alone anymore."

Luz looked up at the magic orb of light above her and repeated the sentence she had been saying for the past three months, "Deja una luz puesta pars mí. Te quiero.”

And she poked out the light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two posts it two days? Sure, why not.
> 
> Fear not, the next one will be sad *insert bad finger guns*


	4. Light! Light, I Won't Hurt Her

Fury.

She was furious. She wanted to bite and rip and claw against her bindings but the magic blue bubble froze her in place. Anger raged beneath the feathers, anger raged inside her mind, anger raged against the world. But the fury beneath the surface struggled against the slow drip of fear that pooled in her chest. 

Her bindings were painful, her existence was painful and the fury was painful. But the fear hurt most. It wasn't fear for her own safety. She could bite and rip and claw. She could protect herself. Her fear was for her child.

_ ‘I don't have a child’ _ something inside growled,  _ ‘I never wanted one’ _ .

_ ‘But I found one. I found a lost child’ _ another voice whispered, no beast behind it,  _ ‘I chose her’. _

_ ‘She already has a mother, far away’ _ the bestial voice growled, _ ‘She is not lost. She is not mine. She fears me now.’ _ even the beast sounded sad.

She looked out of her bubble prison and she watched as people marched through the door. A man followed close behind, each step measured and calm, his masked head held high. She could not remember who he was nor why she was so angry at him but her rage surged and her cage burst. She shrieked and jumped at him. 

Bite. Rip. Claw.

Her pounce was cut short by a simple wave of his hand and she was bound once more. The man approached with his measured steps and she could hear talking but she didn’t care. The pain took up most of her attention.

Suddenly, the pain increased and she could feel something forcefully locked away. The beast inside screeched and Eda opened her eyes. 

“Ugh! Where am I?” she looked down at her hands but they had been replaced by massive claws, “What is this?” Gazing down at her was Emperor Belos, his horned mask showing no emotion, “Ah farts. I got caught.”

“Edalyn Clawthorn,” the tyrant’s voice echoed in his stupid mask as he bent down to just above her eye level. Enough to feign sympathy while his authority lorded over her. 

“The infamous Owl Lady. The Wild Witch of Bonesborough,” this idiot would know her many names wouldn’t he, “The Mentor of Luz the human.”

Eda’s annoyance snapped to anger faster than she could have thought, “You stay away from her, or so help me, Titan…”

Belos chuckled, an empty sound that made her urge to attack him grow, “You’ve got it all wrong. The human is safe, for now” at the mention of Luz his pleasant voice switched to something dark, threatening, “I just want the portal she came through.”

Eda glared up at him, “Tough, ‘cause I ain’t telling you nothing!”

“Pity,” the emperor sighed as he took a few steps back, “Although, I suppose I could ask the human herself.”

Fear shot through her veins as Belos’s goons dragged her away, “Wait, don’t touch her,” Eda looked to Lilith who had genuine concern in her eyes, “Lilith, don’t let him hurt her. Lilith!”

They pulled her away from the tyrant’s throne room, “She’s just a kid!” Eda struggled against her bindings

“No it’s just a stupid, fragile human,” one of the guards muttered.

The fear gave way to burning anger and Eda felt the beast claw its way to the forefront of her mind. The painful thoughts only second to,  _ ‘She's not safe. She's not safe. She's not safe.’ _ The beast shouted it too and her eyes went dark as the guards tied her down.

_ ‘Someone wants to take her away from me. I need to protect her’ _

\------------------------------------

After what felt like hours, she felt something slam into her and she whipped around to face her attacker. The anger flared and boiled within her chest. The anger raised up her claws to take away the pain.

A bright light shocked her vision, “Eda, wait! It’s me!” and her anger pulled back.  _ ‘Light! Light, I won't hurt her,’ _ “It’s me.”

Eda blinked the darkness away and lowered her claws. Before her stood the human she had grown so fond of. “Luz!” the girl wore a face of pure determination and the cloak Eda had made, “Oh no. Oh, no, no, no. What- What are you doing here?”

Luz held up her little ball of light, “It’s ok, Eda. I’m here to save you,” she knelt down and pulled out what looked to be a fire glyph. A tiny spark of hope floated through her only to be dashed as the piece of paper shriveled under the chain’s powerful magic.

“Your magic isn’t strong enough for this.” She picked up Luz with one clawed hand to push her away, “You need to leave now!”

Luz pushed back and placed glyph after glyph against the uncaring chain, “But- But I can’t! It’s my fault you needed to save me. It’s my fault you got captured.”

Eda picked up the little human and set her back on her feet, “No! Listen to me. I’m here because of my own actions. I went against Belos’s law,” Luz’s perpetual smile was gone so Eda tried her own, “And for a while, I was able to get away with it, but, you know, without magic,” she looked away, “I can’t do much.”

“I don’t regret anything, I lived freely and,” she looked down at her apprentice, “I got to meet you.” She placed a hand against the girl’s cheek. 

Eda had spent so many years doing what she thought was important. Wasting her magic on trivial stuff, stealing, lying and scamming. All that had never given her much satisfaction other than a few snails.

King had scrambled into her life years ago and had given her a strange little friend who shared her penchant for crime. They worked together, they teased each other, he joined her on her ever-increasing wanted posters.

But then Luz came in. A determined little human with an unhealthy amount of optimism who didn’t see a monster with a curse with a delusional pet. She embraced their world, she saw magic in everything and reminded Eda of her younger self.

“But if you stay here, I won’t be able to protect you,” Luz gave her purpose, “You need to leave, now!” She pulled her clawed hand away but Luz grabbed it back.

“But we’re a family,” Luz leaned her face against Eda’s claws as tears pooled in her big, brown eyes, “Us weirdos have to stick together, remember?”

She did remember.

Eda reached into her mane of hair and pulled out the key, “You have a family already,” her words came out more strained than she intended, “Go back to them.” She wrapped the key around Luz’s neck, “And when you’re home, use your fire magic to destroy the portal door. I don’t know why Belos wants it, but we can’t take any chances.”

Her teary-eyed Luz looked up at her for a moment before she sprung forward and wrapped her arms around Eda’s bestial form, “I love you, Eda.”

She looked down at her little apprentice in shock. She was a thief, a liar, a monster but for some reason, she cared. And, for the first time in years, Eda’s eyes grew misty.

She wrapped her arms around her kid, “I love you too, kiddo.”

Their bittersweet moment ended as the lights flashed red and the alarm buzzed. She knew the cage would snap shut and Luz would wind up petrified as well. “Luz, get away,” she pushed her human back just as the cage magicked itself into existence. 

“No!” Luz shouted and jumped to grab Eda’s claw, “Not yet!”

“I’m sorry,” her voice broke as she pushed Luz off, “Goodbye, Luz.”

She could hear Luz screaming her name as the platform raised closed behind her. The beast's heightened senses picked up on her brave little human's sobs.

Eda took a shuddering breath and gave herself permission to let those two tears fall. 

Not for the anger, not for the pain, not for the fear but for the little ball of light that stumbled into her life. 

For the human who had given her purpose.

For her Luz.


	5. Advice

Luz laid on her stomach, her chin resting on her understuffed pillow, and hit the record button her phone,

“Hey Mami,” she took a deep breath, “I kinda realized something today, and I need your advice,” Luz looked into her own worried face. She knew her mom wouldn’t get these, but it had become a diary of some sort, a way to feel close to her even though they were worlds away.

“I think... I think I like Amity?” She admitted to her phone, “I know it's stupid and bad and her parents would probably find a way to end me if they found out, but, more importantly, I could ruin my friendship with her.” Luz paused, and the dread in her stomach grew, “Oh no. I don't even know if she likes girls! What if I tell her and she freaks out and goes back to her old mean self? What if-,” she groaned louder than she intended and smooshed her face in the pillow. She was so tired.

“Hey kid,” Eda popped her head through the door with an amused face, “Is everything ok?”

“Yes? “No? I don’t know,” Luz lifted her head and shut off her phone.

Eda stepped into the room and put a hand on her hip, “What are you doing with your flashy rectangle? I thought it didn’t work anymore.”

“It works, I just don’t have any internet anymore,” Eda clearly didn’t understand but Luz went on, “But i’ve been making a bunch of videos. That way, if we find some way to get service, I could send these to her. Let her know I'm ok.”

Luz sat up and faced her mentor, “So I tell her what's happening or about fun things or what's bothering me. Ask for advice.”

“Well,” Eda came a few steps closer, “I give pretty decent advice; what's bothering you?”

Luz played with the hem of her sleep shirt. It was getting small, but she supposed she had gone a year without a wardrobe change, “I think- I think I have a crush on... Amity.”

Eda snorted and gave a deep belly laugh, “Congrats, you're the last one to know.”

“Eda!”

King slid through the open door, Francois under his arm, “I was awoken by the sound of mockery.” The little demon clapped his cute little paws together, “Where is it? Show me the object of ridicule!”

“Luz is having a teenage crisis and is asking for advice.”

“Oooo, my advice is to destroy them and all their things!”

Luz dropped her head into her hands, “You don't even know what the problem is!”

King put a thoughtful claw against his head. “Hm, Five snails says that you either accidentally made a deal with a demon that looks like a corn chip or you finally realized you were crushing on Amity.”

“Does everyone know!” Luz furrowed her brow, “A corn chip?”

“It was the first thing I thought of and yes, everyone knows.”

Eda shrugged, “I mean, it was kind of obvious.”

“I knew it tooo,” They all whipped around to see Hooty in a nightcap, “Hoot.”

“Hooty!” Luz gestured wildly with her arms, “How long have you been sitting there?”

“I've been here the whole time,” Hooty said as he tilted his head… tube… whatever nightmare neck thing he had.

Luz sighed and pulled her too flat pillow against her chest, “If you guys aren't gonna help, can you please go away.”

Hooty slunk forward and put his face against Luz’s cheek, “I’m always helpful.”

“Gah!” Luz reflexively smacked Hooty with her pillow, “Hooty, no touching.”

“Fine, goodnight,” He called as he slunk out the open window which Luz quickly shut.

“Well, if we’re not gonna mock Luz, I’m going to bed,” the demon said as he waved and trotted out the door.

Eda plopped down beside Luz and winced, “Dang kid, we need to get you an actual bed.

Luz buried her face further into her pillow, “That would be nice.”

An awkward silence settled over the two and Eda cleared her throat, “So, why are you worried about the Blight girl anyway?”

The human looked at the ground, then at the ceiling, then back at Eda, “You promise you won’t laugh again?”

Eda smirked, “I make no promises.”

Luz frowned, “Well, I was _apparently_ last to realize I have a crush on one of my best friends.”

“Well, I wouldn't say last but,” Luz glared at her, “What? Your Dweebis friend definitely doesn’t know.”

“Well, at least I have Gus,” Luz chuckled, but her smile dropped, “Anyway, right now, I'm really happy being friends with Amity. I love hanging out with her and getting to talk about Azura and draw together and write fanfics. But, I'm afraid that if I tell her, she'll push me away and I'll lose all that.” Luz felt tears sting behind her eyes.

“Luz, I want you to look at me,” Luz looked up into Eda’s mismatched eyes to see the smug smile had mostly fallen, “Whatever disaster scenario you've thought up isn't real. And when you tell Amity, everything will be ok.”

“But she has a crush on someone else! I saw! At grom!” She huffed, “And I don't know if she even likes girls in the first place!”

Eda looked thoughtful, “Hm, well, when I was your age, I had a crush on a friend.”

“Oh!” Luz’s eyes lit up, “Backstory!”

“Hush you,” Eda’s mock anger drew a smile out of both of them, “I had a crush on a friend and I was in the same predicament you are in now, but I decided to tell them.”

“Did they like you back?”

“No, he said he wasn’t interested.”

“But... did you stay friends?”

“Yeah,” Luz felt a small drop of hope settle into her stomach, “It was a little awkward for a while, but we both got over it and I was able to move on. But I left them all when I dropped out of school and went on the run.” She winked down at Luz.

“Well, I don’t think I’ll be dropping out but… do you really think everything will be ok?”

The old witch had a knowing glint her eye that made Luz extremely suspicious, but, at that point, she was too tired to care, “Yeah kid, I know it will,” she patted Luz’s brown hair and the human yawned, “Ok, it's bedtime for you unless you want your Bad Girl Coven 'Quitter' patch.” Eda stood up and put her hands on her hips.

Luz gave a sleepy laugh, “I’m all good,” she pulled up the covers and laid on her pillow.

“Well then, goodnight, kid.”

“Ok, night, Mom,” Luz muttered as she curled up.

Eda froze for a heartbeat before she smiled fondly at her human. She reached up, poked out Luz’s last remaining light orb, and softly closed the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean, she did ask her mom for advice :)


	6. We're a Family

King padded through the sleeping house, his tag jingling as the moon shone through the mismatched windows and spilled its soft silver light across the wooden floor. Strange shadows scattered against the furniture as the wax from the now flameless candles hardened and the subtle skittering of various night critters interrupted the night's quiet.

His claws clicked against the wooden stairs as he descended and made his way towards the kitchen. He wanted water and Luz wasn't there to bring him any.

He didn't like it when Luz wasn't home, even if it was just for a sleepover at Willow's, it tended to be very inconvenient for someone with such little legs... and it was harder to sleep when she wasn’t around. Sure, her new mattress was very warm and comfy but it wasn’t the same without his favorite human.

It was easier to admit that he missed her after that carnival fiasco. The human had quickly become one of his best friends and he liked being around her, even if it was just sitting on a couch together.

King rounded the corner to see the kitchen's lights on and he could hear low mumbling inside.  _ Eda and Lilith _ , he figured as he came within earshot of the sister’s conversation.

"-haven’t found anything." Eda sounded tired, more tired than the hour would have suggested.

He heard Lilith sigh, "It's been over a year, Edalyn. I… I don't think getting to the human realm is possible."

"Well, we can't just give up," Eda growled.

"Edalyn," Lilith said slowly, "I thought you wanted the human-"

"Luz."

"Yes. I thought you wanted Luz to stay here? You tell the child you care for her and you're still trying to send her away?"

King peeked his head around the corner to see the sisters with papers and old tomes scattered across the table.

"Of course I want her to stay," Eda slid a hand down her aging face, "But she's got a family she needs to go back to."

Lilith looked at her sister with narrowed eyes, "Edalyn, what is this really about? You weren't so distraught during our last research session."

"I'm not distraught," Eda snapped and Lilith raised an eyebrow. The silver-haired witch sighed, "Luz called me mom."

Lilith blinked in surprise, “When did this happen?”

"Three days ago,” Eda leaned back in her chair, “The kid finally realized she liked the baby Blight and was getting all 'teen angst' about it. She asked for advice, I gave it to her. She was tired and it was accidental. I don't think she even remembers saying it."

"She sees you as a mother figure then," Lilith tilted her head at her sister, "I don't find that terribly surprising."

"But I'm not!" Eda slammed her book closed, "I need to get her home so she can go back to her real family."

"You're wrong," the sisters whipped around to see King, hands on his little hips.

"King," Eda sighed but King held up a claw.

"Nuh-uh, it's King's talk time," he scrambled up onto the table, sending books and scrolls clattering to the kitchen floor. Eda groaned and Lilith looked less than amused but the little demon remained unperturbed, "Does Luz call us family?"

"King..."

"Your King asked you a question! Does Luz the Human call us a family?"

"Yes, she does but that's only because-"

"Does she constantly give us hugs that we both used to hate?"

"Yes, the little freak of nature is very touchy-feely."

"Does she say she loves us every time she leaves?"

"What's your point King?"

King walked across the table until he was at eye level with Eda, "My point is that Luz considers us family. Even if it consists of a couple of weirdos like us," King made a face, "Ugh, Luz's horrible sappiness is rubbing off on me."

Eda snorted, a slight smile on her tired face, "Yeah, it's sickening."

"Now," King pointed at her dramatically, "Are we Luz's family?"

The magicless witch rolled her eyes, "Fine, yes. Will you leave me alone now?"

King narrowed his eyes, "Fine, but if you talk like that again I'm stealing all your left socks." With that, the King of Demons leapt off the table and went to go grab the water he came down here for in the first place. Luz was his family, Eda was his family and he was going to make sure that old bat knew it.

\------------------------------------

Eda stacked the hefty tomes into a messy pile and rolled up the open scrolls. King’s entrance had given her the push to finally head to bed. They had spent upwards of three hours pouring over old texts, looking for any hints as to how they were to get Luz back home. It had become a regular thing for the sisters to research portals whenever the kid was out for the night. Luz was usually gone on Saturday nights having sleepovers, camping, raising the dead so they took her absence as a time to study.

“About Luz and her family?” Lilith piped up after a few moments of comfortable silence. 

“I don’t want to talk about it, Lily,” Eda scooped up the books and made her way to the stairs. A hand on her shoulder stopped her.

“Edayln, you’re afraid of something, aren’t you,” Eda turned and looked into her older sister’s face, concern in the witch’s growing wrinkles.

“What if she’s forgetting them?”

“What?”

“What if she’s forgetting her human family?” The questions that had been eating at her since before Luz had called her ‘Mom’ spilled out all at once, “Or what if she’s trying to forget them? She used to talk about the human world all the time but she rarely even mentions it now.”

Lilith dropped her hand from her sister's shoulder, “Maybe it's because she’s not a visitor anymore.”

Eda raised an eyebrow.

“She’s not the same human who you found a year ago who was just staying for the summer. The child has a home, a real bed, she goes to school."

Eda looked around the room and saw the little bits of Luz that had seeped into the room. Baby's first wanted picture, drawings of Eda, King, and Luz hanging on the fridge, a pile of unfinished homework on the counter beside a messy bag, a stain on the ceiling from a misstep in potions homework. 

"She has people who she loves and trusts, she knows how our world works.”

“Knows how is a bit of a stretch.”

Lilith rolled her mismatched eyes, “Mostly knows how this world works. My point is that she lives in the Boiling Isles. She’s told us her human stories and now she’s making new experiences so I think that is what is in the forefront of her mind.”

“I just don’t want to replace her family.”

“You’re not replacing her family, you’re adding to it,” Lilith gathered her stack of books and made her way up the stairs.

_ Adding to it. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead! School has been a bastard and writer's block has been an even bigger bastard so here's the chapter.  
> Next chapter: Happier (hopefully)


End file.
